NSW Sports Minister
Gabrielle Upton
admits a new stadium in western ­Sydney that could fit 40,000 to 50,000 spectators would be a boost for sport in the state but says budgetary issues make any such commitment unclear.

Speaking three months after she was elevated to cabinet by Premier
Barry O’Farrell
to replace former sports minister Graham Annesley, who quit state parliament to become chief executive of NRL club Gold Coast Titans, Upton says the government has done a good job in upgrading several stadiums.

“In terms of tier-one stadiums, we have contributed $177 million to the upgrading of the Sydney Cricket Ground, which will be finished in time for the Ashes test in January," she says. “And for tier two, there is the ­$29 million upgrade at Parramatta ­Stadium over the next 1.5 years, which will add about 3600 seats and improve corporate hospitality and player change-room facilities."

But she admits a new western Sydney stadium, which could potentially house the fast-growing A-league club Western Sydney Wanderers and several NRL clubs, could be problematic.

“There is demand for it, but governments are facing budgetary restraints at the moment," Upton says.

But some deals have been struck since Upton began her job in August.

The NSW government is set to sign a long-term deal with
Nathan Tinkler
’s Hunter Sports Group for his Newcastle Jets A-League club and NRL side Newcastle Knights, although the issue of a $400,000 debt regarding ground improvements is yet to be solved.

Upton has also successfully moved legislation that tightens the licensing and other requirements of promoters and participants in combat sports.

Related Quotes

Company Profile

The NSW government has also signed deals to lure major events such as a baseball series next year at the ­Sydney Cricket Ground between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona ­Diamondbacks. It is also paying about $10 million to assist the running of The Championships horse racing event.

Upton had a career in business before entering state parliament at the 2011 election.

She was a banking and finance lawyer before moving to New York in the 1990s, where she was a banker with Deutsche Bank and Toronto-Dominion Bank. She returned to Australia in 2000 to be legal counsel at the Australian Institute of Company Directors and was also deputy chancellor at the ­University of NSW.

“I think, in business terms, I can bring my skills to the major venues we have oversight over," Upton says.

“Though my work in finance and a lawyer, for example, I’ve got an understanding of infrastructure and the funding of it."